Egypt teen detained for 'making weapons for protesters'

Family says 15-year-old tortured while detained for allegedly manufacturing weapons at his home in Cairo.

20 Jul 2015 09:35 GMT

Footage broadcast in Egypt showed Gamaa with the firearms he had allegedly made

A 15-year-old boy in Egypt has been detained for allegedly manufacturing firearms for anti-government protesters at his home in the Nasr City area of Cairo, officials said.

Reports of deaths and negligence in Egypt's prisons

The accusations against Abad Ahmed Gamaa include the "manufacture of firearms to be used against police in demonstrations" and "the use of his residence as the workshop".

In an email to Al Jazeera, Gamaa's lawyer Ahmed Saad said the boy had been tortured with electrical shocks and beaten since being taken into custody on Friday.

Saad denied the accusations against his client, saying all the weapons that authorities claimed to have seized from Gamaa were placed in his home.

Musab Gamaa, the boy's brother, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that the detainee told him during a prison visit that he has been tortured since being arrested on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

On Sunday security forces broadcast pictures showing Gamaa with the firearms he had allegedly made.

According to Egyptian media and the country's security department, the teenager admitted to possession of equipment used to make the firearms.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been accused of implementing a harsh crackdown on political opponents since ousting Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013.

Regular protests against the coup have been held by supporters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group. Thousands have been detained and hundreds of protesters have been killed in confrontations with security forces.